The Winds of Change
by JazzyJosh
Summary: Based on the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini, this story takes place years after the events of Inheritance and follows the story of Cailan and Saell. Any feedback or anything you'd like to see in future chapters is more than welcome, and ideas I like might be added to the story!
1. Prologue: An Unfortunate Fate

Prologue: An Unfortunate Fate

In the streets of the capital of Sufaria, formerly known as Uru Baen, a young boy ran through the streets, covered in rags and soil. Behind him trailed several city guards, yelling for the boy to halt. Their armor only served to slow them down, as such the boy was gaining distance with every step. The crowds parted as the young boy ran through them, every person displaying their disgust in some form or another. "What's a lower-class rat doing here?!" one shouted. The boy cared not for the words however and ran on.

His goal was a simple one, find some way to provide for his family, and he traveled great distances to do so, he was not about to give in to the looks of the prosperous. A spark whizzed by him in the form of a blunt electric arrow, it's purpose to stun any who run from the shooter. A look of fear entered the boy's eyes and in response he dipped into a nearby narrow alley between two tall buildings, looking for a way out.

He was far enough ahead that the guards didn't see where he disappeared to, giving him time to figure something out. He found some clothes, the same size as he, they were in good condition and could make him look upper class, or at least middle. He threw the clothes on and placed on the matching hat to cover his greasy hair, then proceeded to darted back out into the streets, trying his best to blend in. He had wiped off most of the dirt on his face, hiding his dirty looking appearance from anyone who didn't look closely enough, and the guards didn't recognize him. Realizing this the boy wandered deeper into the capital city, looking for anything of value. His search took him all the way to a great palace, where he was spotted by another set of guards, who called out to the boy, "Hey boy, you're not allowed in here!"

The boy darted off, his hat falling off his head, revealing his messy hair. It took the guards a few seconds to realize what was going on than they began to chase the boy as he ran deeper into the palace. Royals and officials alike joined the chase as they see a mere street urchin running through their palace. The boy was quick enough to evade capture and ran deeper into the palace, until he was at an entrance into an open building.

A young prince, in the middle of sword training saw a boy outside, covered in mud and with hair that looked as if it was never washed ran past, then followed by a small mob of people yelling out at the boy. The prince interested went to the window to see what the commotion was all about. "Get back here boy, we're not done." His instructor yelled. The man's face was stern and detailed with several scars. His green faded eyes and face were hard, lacking compassion of any sort. The Prince walked back, hanging his head in defeat. This action was met with a wap on the head by the practice sword, and an angry look from the instructor. A tear in his eye, the boy threw down his practice sword, gave an angry look to the instructor and shouted "I don't want to do this anymore! You're mean, and I don't like training with you!" The instructor's face narrowed at the boy, his eyes sparking with a hint of content. The boy stormed out, then broke into a run to see what was going on.

He burst out into a room where a sole object was being held, a dragon egg of great value. And there the dirty boy was, holding the egg, and trying to look for a way out. He was surrounded, and quickly apprehended. The young prince was also grabbed and hauled out with the boy. Not knowing what was going on, he took solace that he'd go through it with another, lower class or not.

The two were brought before the king, the king looking at the prince confused. "What is the meaning of this?" The king bellowed. They started with the street boy. "My lord, this boy broke into the palace, and attempted to steal the dragon egg." The king stared at the boy, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "And? What do you want me to do about it?" The man talking stroked his red beard, smiling. "Nothing my lord, we just need your permission to execute this trespasser." The boy's face went white and his eyes filled with fear.

The king however, only laughed. "Execute him? And you say he tried to steal the dragon egg, no?" The bearded man nodded. "Then tell me, did he touch the egg?" Half the men in the room went pale, knowing what the king was saying. The bearded man slowly nodded. "Then if you execute him, you may very well harm the dragon you and your people hold so dear, no? So I say you keep him alive for a few weeks in the dungeon, and if the egg doesn't hatch, you may execute him then." The bearded man nodded, accepting his, then motioned for the guards to carry the boy off, and they did so, leaving only the prince left.

The king's tone changed, more serious and darker. "And what of my son?" The prince looked down, ashamed. This time, it was the bearded man who was smiling. "Ah my lord, your heir has been nothing but a failure time and time again. As such we demand you banish him!" The prince's face was now the one pale. The kings was the opposite, a bright red. "And why would I do that?!" Another man stepped up, his hair and lack of facial hair, as well of posture made him look very professional. "Because if not, King Zalfar, there will be war. We will not stand for a failure of a king in our nation." The King's eyes flared with anger, "War?! Over a boy? How desperate are you?" The King stood threateningly, and a few men drew their swords at the king. In turn all the supporters of the king drew their swords as well.

The professional man spoke, "Do you really wish to start a war over a stupid child? Because if so, I can happily oblige." The king drew his own sword this time, taking a few steps to the man. "You really think I'll sit idly by as you Jathin scum try to take away my only heritage?"

The Professional man laughed, drawing his own sword. The prince stared up in fear as the sword was pointed at him. "You realize that starting a war will begin with the death of your son, and end with the death of hundreds of thousands of your very own people, do you not?" The point of the sword was poking the throat of the prince at this point.

After a few long minutes of a stalemate, the king relented, sheathing his sword. In a painful voice, he managed to get out "Fine, take him with the street boy, and let us discuss his fate."

Two long weeks passed, the boy and prince sitting in the palace dungeon. Suddenly, the boy was torn out of the cell, and taken to the egg room where he had tried to steal the dragon egg before. As he got there he was thrown into the middle of a circle of about twenty men, all official looking, each dressed in red. In the middle was a shattered egg and a baby dragon, the color of the forest, sky, and sea, all wrapped into one, bright color. The dragon's eyes locked onto the boy and approached him cautiously. The boy became frightful, thinking that he was going to be food for the young dragon, despite the difference in sizes.

The Dragon slowly stalked up to the boy, who had no way to escape. The boy closed his eyes, waiting for his end, but instead was met with a gentle brush of small scales. He opened his eyes and saw two things. The first being the dragon rubbing against his arm, and the second being the horrified faces of the men in red. Trying to read the situation, the boy reached out to pet the young dragon, and the dragon met his motion in return. A searing pain rushed up the boy's arm and he passed out.

The men in red wasted no time grabbing the boy, still shocked at what had happened, and dragged him into a room of his own. Then they looked at the dragon. "The strongest dragon of our time will have to be riderless…" With that they summoned their strongest mages. As for the prince he was deemed necessary to the palace and would be thrown out. Both boys were thrown in the same room, and after hours of spell weaving they sealed the powers of the rider bestowed upon the boy away, and then replaced all his memories with that of stealing coins from a wealthy merchant. The boy now passed out was moved to near the town gates and was given a sack of coins and left there. Upon waking the boy took the coins and left for home, none the wiser of what had occurred on his visit to the capital.

As for the prince, his memories were wiped entirely, and he was left on the streets, knowing nothing of who he was, nor how he got there. He wondered for five days and four nights, as a beggar would. One day he disappeared from Sufaria, and the followers of the king never found him again, as such, the king wept for his one and only son.


	2. Chapter 1: The streets of Carvahall

Chapter 1. In the streets of Carvahall

Dust flew as Cailan skidded backwards, his white hair covering his eyes. In the process, Cailan almost dropped the practice stick he was holding, having to regrip it. Sweat dripped off his face, and dirt covered his body in small random patches. He took the time to brush the strand of hair aside, and faced his father, an older man. His hair was a dark grey, showing signs of age, but still had a few signs of the brown hair he adorned in his youth. He had a few wrinkles in his face, another sign of his age, but the rest of him still looked as it did years ago. His arms were ripe with muscles, and the blow Cailan had just suffered proved that they weren't just for show. Cailan locked eyes with the pale brown of his father's right eye, and the white blind color of his left. Cailan's father had lost sight in that eye during his time as a soldier.

Cailan regained his stance, his Green eyes that looked as pure as an emerald met his father's with determination. He held his practice stick in front of him, ready for the next attack. Cailan's father seemed to lower his guard, his eyes softening, and he smiled. Cailan smiled and charged, letting out a war cry. _He's open!_ He raised his stick, going for what he thought was the most open spot on his Father's body. However, he was met with a quick and swift strike to his side, knocking the breath out of him. This caused Cailan to get knocked to the side, lose his footing, and fall. He laid out on his back, staring into the sky.

It was a beautiful blue, the sun hanging just slightly to the right of the center of the sky. He took the time to tried to catch his breath, but his father leaned over him, a smug smile on his face. "Of course you'd be smiling..." Cailan whined, letting out a slight smirk. Cailan used the practice stick as leverage to help himself up. His father stood up and replied with, "You're getting better. You know you have a knack for this stuff, I wasn't as good as you are until I was almost thirty years of age." Cailan smiled at that, his dad always knew how to make him feel better.

"Now, come on young man, I believe I promised you food after we finished!" Cailan's smirk turned into a full-blown smile, "now that's something I'm looking forward to!" He then took the time to pat himself down trying to get rid of some of the dirt that clung to his clothes. He then stretched out, enjoying the calm breeze that blew through the town. His father would then motion for Cailan to go inside, and Cailan obliged, seeing his father grab the two practice sticks. After entering the home, he prepared the old wooden table for food.

A few moments passed and Cailan's father entered the old house once again, making his way over to where the food was being prepared. It was a stew of various vegetables being slowly cooked from the heat excreted by a weak flame gem. The stew had been slowly boiling for a few hours now and was ready to be consumed. Cailan would smile at the smell of the stew and finished setting the table. "Smells good, what did you make this time?"

The response took a few seconds, as his father was stirring the stew one last time. "Just a stew made of various vegetables I found in the market earlier today." Came his reply. He'd then proceed to pull the wooden bowl from above the gem and walk over to the table. "Good enough for me! However, I wish we could get some meat from time to time." Cailan felt that he had been rude and regretted making the comment, however his father didn't even flinch, only poured a serving onto each of the wooden plates set out. "Meat is rare in this part of town, and goes quickly… But believe me I'd love the same."

Cailan would stare at the stew. "Yeah. It's a shame I don't know the first thing about hunting." His father would give off a big hearty laugh, "Even if you did know how to hunt, there's nothing to hunt around here." Cailan would pick up his spoon. "I guess you do have a good point there." Then began stirring the stew, taking bites from time to time as he went.

His father then raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Unless you'd like to venture into the spine? But you know how the Jathin's feel about low class like us in those mountains." After taking another bite, Cailan put his spoon down. "Well that still wouldn't mean anything anyway, even if there was an abundance of wildlife three feet from us I still can't hunt at all." His father then placed his spoon down as well, although he was finished with his stew. "Aye, maybe we should ask the riders to hunt for us." He jested.

Cailan picked up his spoon again, taking another few bites, he was half done with his serving. "Yeah right, maybe we should ask them for a pouch of coin as well?" He'd laugh at his own joke. His father would smile, "Protectors of peace my arse… All they do is flaunt their status and sit pretty, leaving the rest of us to do all the work." Cailan would finish his plate, stand up, and stretch. "The dragons are pretty cool though."

His father would stand, collecting Cailan's plate as well as his own, then walk over to a bucket of cleaning water and wash the plates in them. "That they are, but they're terrifyin' at the same time. One dragon alone could wipe out a small army." Cailan would go to help, but his father shook his head, so Cailan would sit back down. "Having that kind of power… How do people not lose themselves with something like that under their control."

Cailan's father would finish the cleaning process and join Cailan at the table. "Now, this is only a rumor I heard while back on the force, but apparently Dragon's ain't some dumb beast, but as smart as we are. I doubt somethin' like that can just be 'controlled'" Not convinced Cailan would lean forward. "So, like they would keep each other in check? That's a bit far fetched to hear. First time I've ever heard something like that." His father would lean back, sighing, "I dunno. It's only a rumor. But all we do know is we ain't dead yet, so that's somethin' to be thankful for, eh?"

Content with the statement, Cailan would reply, "That's fair. Life ain't always bad, is it?" Then he'd lean back in his chair closing his eyes for a few seconds. He'd picture dragons and epic battles in his mind and smile a bit. His daydreaming was quickly interrupted however by his father. "Well now, you're going to be late if you continue to sit there dreamin'. You better get goin', those swords aren't gonna make themselves!" _That's right, I do start today!_"It's that late already? I got to get going!" He'd rush up out of his chair, knocking it over, he'd quickly pick it back up and push it in, and run for the door. "Thanks for the food father! I'll see you tonight!" Then he ran out the door onto the streets of Carvahall.

The streets were full of activity at this hour, looking one direction you could see at least ten if not a few more people. The Blacksmith's hop was still a good ten minutes' walk away from the house. Cailan had turned 16 very recently, and as such was old enough to work. Thankfully he'd found work with a local blacksmith and started today. Cailan would take in the sights, then walk, trying not to seem in a hurry and failing, to the shop, waving at familiar faces along the way.

After the seemingly longest 10 minutes Cailan arrived at the Blacksmith. William, the blacksmith was outside looking around, and waved Cailan over once he noticed him. William was a very tall broadly build man, and sat at least an entire head over Cailan, and he considered himself pretty tall. His bald head showed no signs of hair; however he had a full-grown beard his wife wall always calling a 'fire hazard' that was a pure color of black. "Hey William, thanks for letting me work here!" Cailan said once he reached William. In response, he just smiled, and motioned for Cailan to follow him inside.

Once inside, a blast of heat his Cailan in the face, and he was worried he'd melt. The shop was completely stone and had little to no decorations. Inside there were essentially three rooms, the first was the smeltery room, where the metal was melted, and weapons were shaped. The second room is where he was going to be stationed, the assembly room. In this room each part for the weapon was stored and waited for assembly, William usually handled this part as well, but he hired Cailan to save himself some time. The third room was the enchantment room, where the final touches to the better swords were added in the form of enchantment stones. These stones contained magical energy of ward spells, which prevented the sword from receiving damage up to a certain point. The more expensive ones had stones with magical energy that allowed swords to use magical attacks, but none of those were ever made and sold here.

Upon showing the backroom to Cailan, another face that Cailan popped out of seemingly nowhere, scaring Cailan. "You finally made it!" It was Saell, Cailan's long time friend from his childhood. They had both applied for the job together, and apparently both got it. Saell was a bit shorter than Cailan, and not nearly as well build as he was. Saell wasn't lacking muscles though, but he didn't undergo the harsh sword training Cailan did. Saell's hair was a dark brown, and was a mess, as he rarely took the time to do anything to it. Saell always looked underfed to Cailan, but he just assumed he just had it well off and never brought it up. As well off as you can be in this part of town.

"Hey, what do you mean finally?" Cailan knew he was late, but he only thought be a few minutes. "I'm not that late, am I?" With a confused expression Cailan turned to William who showed no emotion, negative or positive. Then his face hardening a bit, he crossed his arms, "According to the location of the sun, you're about twenty minutes late." _What a great first impression… _The look on Cailan's face would darken, taking on a self-disappointing look. "Guess father and I spent too much time eating and talking huh. Sorry William." Saell gave Cailan one of his famous big clueless smiles. "Guess so slacker." The comment came with a rough pat on the back.

William's face softened, and he even smiled a bit, "no matter, I'm not ready for you anyway. I still need to finish up a few things before you can begin the assembly." Realizing he wasn't in trouble, Cailan relaxed, "then that means I'm late with no harm done!" He'd then turn to Saell, remembering his previous comment. "And who are you calling slacker?" Saell's already big grin would get even wider somehow. "Still you!" Then his goofy smile turned into one of pride, and before Cailan could respond he blurted out, "Look what I've learned to do!" Saell was pointing to three small purple stones, each pulsating with a weak light of the same color, however it was lighter.

Part of him knew was going on, but he still wouldn't let Saell get away with the teasing from earlier, so in response he decided to play dumb. "Do they do anything other than glow?" The look of shock and frustration from Saell was enough to satisfy. In a defensive way Saell responded with "Of course they do!" It was also in a sort of degrading tone, as if Saell really believed that Cailan didn't know what was going on. "Before the magician who worked here left, he taught me some magic! And my job is to use it on these stones for the more expensive weapons!" _Yeah, weapons no one living here can afford._ Cailan thought to himself.

Saell would suddenly look very weary. "It makes me tired though, so I can only do three at a time." Deciding that he wouldn't relent on the teasing quite yet Cailan responded with "maybe you should work on being able to do more magic without dying first." He'd smile at his own comment, and even let out a small silent laugh. "At least I can do some…" Saell muttered under his breath barely loud enough to hear. Wanting to change the mood, Cailan began talking about Saell's favorite subject, dragons. The two spent a good thirty minutes talking about it when they were cut off by William walking in.

"All right Cailan, I'm ready for ya!" With those words, Cailan dropped the conversation, to Saell's disappointment. "Awesome! I won't let you down!" He then walked to the assembly room where several parts of swords, maces, bows, arrows, you name it, were sitting. William walked through the assembly of each part with Cailan, teaching him how to secure the blade of a sword into the hilt, how to make sure the mace was sturdy, and showed him how to test the weapons to make sure they wouldn't fall apart. Then Cailan would follow the steps to the best of his ability, asking questions whenever he was confused by something. After about an hour, William was content and left Cailan to work on his own.

Cailan devoted himself entirely to making weapons, delivering the ones that needed crystals, which were very few, to Saell, and putting the others on display so when their buyer came around, it was in full view. William would drop by every hour or so to drop off new weapon parts, and Saell came in a few times, offering to help, picking up on the skills quickly, but never being quite as efficient as Cailan.

After what seemed like an eternity and a half, it was dusk. William walked in, sweat upon his brow, his long black hair, which was usually pulled back, a mess. "Quittin' time kiddo, go home." He started to walk away, then turned, remembering something. "Oh, and here's your pay" William would toss Cailan three bronze coins, which he clumsily caught. Cailan then pocketed the coins, smiling. "Thanks for having me, so when do you want me to come in again?" William replied, expressionless. "Same time tomorrow should work." Then William would toss an old rag over his shoulder and stroll out.

_Good going Cailan, you finished your first day on the job!_ He smiled to himself as he jingled around the coins in his pocket. Cailan would follow William out, emerging a few seconds after he did. Saell was waiting outside, leaned up against the wall, staring up at the sky. He'd notice Cailan walk out, and turn to him, that goofy grin of his back. "Slow as usual, eh?" Cailan would scoff. "You be quiet, mister glowing rock." His smile turned to a frown. "It's about as exciting as sticking things together." Saell said sincerely. "Yeah, well I can stick a lot more things together then you can make glow." Saell seemed to thing about this for a moment, then give off another goofy smile. "Yeah probably, it's harder than I thought! I could only do one more today!"

_He's hopeless_. Giving up on the teasing, Cailan smiled back. "Yeah, well anyone can stick something together. At least yours is unique." Saell smiled at the compliment "Yeah, I guess. Let's head back, it's getting late!" Cailan nodded, and followed Saell onto the streets

The roads were much quieter than when Cailan left. Many vendors of foods and various goods were closed already, and those that weren't were packing up for the day. The only people on the streets currently were beggars and the occasional night walker, plus one or two guards. The streets at night were never perilous, but at this time of year the night was much colder than the day, so many stayed indoors to keep warm. Cailan yawned, and Saell looked at the sky again, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Cailan asked, curious what was on Saell's mind. "I just don't get it." He replied bluntly. Cailan stopped, confused now. "Don't get what?" Saell stopped as well and turned to look at Cailan. "Flying, I don't understand how some creatures be okay with possibly dropping down to their deaths, and how some other people find it enjoyable to ride those creatures." Cailan almost laughed, instead he let out a small smile. "You mean the dragons and riders?" Saell didn't smile back, as if he were confused by the enjoyment some find in flying. "Not just them, but birds. Not to mention gryphons and Fanghur, and the people who ride them." _I sometimes forget he's terrified of heights._ Cailan thought to himself. "I guess you'll never know unless you try flying yourself." Saell scoffed at this. "Yeah, like that'll happen."

They were silent for a minute, Cailan assumed Saell was still thinking about flying, so he let it be. Then suddenly, Saell changed the subject. "So, how's sparring with Miller going?" The name of his father always sounded strange to Cailan. "It's going well, he says I'm picking up more every time we spar." Saell gave off a small sincere smile. "That's good, maybe you'll get into the military someday." _The military. Never really thought about doing that._ "I don't know, we're just using sticks after all, swords are much different." Saell shrugged. "I wouldn't know, all I do read books and study all day. Honestly Magic is the most combat oriented activity I've done since we wrestled as kids when you moved here, but who knows, maybe one day I'll get to learn to fight as well." Cailan wasn't sure about this, Saell wasn't exactly fighting material. In response he just shrugged, and the two kept walking. It wasn't long before they reached Saell's home, and Cailan was saying his goodbyes for the day. The rest of the walk was silent, he saw almost no one, except for a beggar or two.

When he reached his home, his father was waiting for him at the front door, and wave when he was Cailan. He'd wave back and approach their home. "Sure is gettin' cold out here, ain't it? Let's get inside." As Cailan headed in, he smelled something familiar. "More stew?" He'd ask surprised. Something about it smelled different than normal however. He father smiled, "yes, but an extra ingredient this time!" They went into the kitchen and Cailan's mouth hanged open in shock. In front of him was a stew mixed in with chunks of meat. It took awhile for Cailan to speak something aside from nonsense, at which his father laughed at. "You didn't have to spend all that coin on me… but thank you." Cailan let a huge smile take over his face.

"Don' worry about it m'boy. We're gonna come into about twice as much coin as before so I figure, let's chow down! Now come, come! Sit and let us enjoy the meal!" His father would grab the bowl of stew and deal out the food making sure Cailan got more meat than he did. Cailan would notice this and frown. "Father, you spent the coin, if anyone should get more it should be you." His father only laughed a bit. "Nonsense m'boy! This is fer you! I don' need it, it's good for a growin' boy such as y'self to eat some good meat now and again!

Cailan would sigh. _No point in arguing there_. "Fine, but next time you're getting the bigger portion. Then the two would chow down, talking about Cailan's day, and rarely straying from the subject. After they finished eating, Cailan helped his father with the clean up and went to bed, wishing a good night before leaving. As he laid in bed, he had dreams about a big palace, and a man standing next to several corpses and a big dragon, the color of the waters sea and land combined.


End file.
